


what'll you do when you get lonely?

by FakePlastikTrees



Category: The Mindy Project
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-16
Updated: 2014-10-16
Packaged: 2018-02-21 09:12:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2462765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FakePlastikTrees/pseuds/FakePlastikTrees
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mindy is experiencing a a moment of doubt, Jeremy comes over and has one of his own.</p>
            </blockquote>





	what'll you do when you get lonely?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [NurseTookers](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NurseTookers/gifts), [Smapdi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Smapdi/gifts).



> That was such a lame fucking summary, you guys lol but I just took a pill and I'm a little loopy. Anyway, the title is obvi from the best, most desperate love song ever written and performed "Layla" by guitar god Eric Clapton. 
> 
> Written for some sexy bitches I know. 
> 
> (yes I owe you guys smut, it just turned into this, I can't help it, motherfuckers are stubborn)

The knock on her door was a brisk, friendly little triple pat that made her smile. Turning her phone over on the table, Mindy read the time. 10:30pm wasn’t late but it wasn’t exactly early. She turned towards the door, then looked down at her legs, crossed in some contorted arrangement, and pictured herself in some alternate universe where she decides to somehow disentangle herself from herself and get up to answer the knock, falling on her face due to a severe case of dead legs. No it was definitely not worth it.

 

“Come in!” She called instead, loud enough for her upstairs neighbors to hear.

 

Slowly, the knob was turned and the door was pushed open. Jeremy’s head peaked inside, scanning Mindy’s apartment briefly before finding her seated at the table. “Mindy, why is your door unlocked this late at night, are you absolutely insane?”

 

“What! I have a doorman.”

 

“I feel as though I’ve had to clarify this before, but the man does not carry a gun.”

 

“That’s what you think.”

 

Finally having stepped inside and securing that the lock was latched, Jeremy walked straight through Mindy’s living room, into the dining area where a plethora of paperwork laid strewn across the flat surface. Surveying the scene momentarily, he let out a low whistle and then raised his eyebrows at her. “What’s all this now?”

 

“Just trying to catch up with some patient files.”

 

“But you always make Morgan do that for you.”

 

“Yeah, well, I’ve decided to be more hands-on.”

 

“Okay,” He shrugged his shoulders dismissively, and then held up a hefty bag of take out food. “I’ve come baring gifts.”

 

Closing her eyes and emitting an appreciative hum, Mindy tilted her chin upwards and inhaled deeply. “That smells so good.”

 

“You’ll be pleased to know I am using my cheat day to have these empty carbs with you tonight.”

 

“You are living dangerously, my friend.” She said, following him into the kitchen, where he moved around with ease and familiarity.

 

Jeremy hadn’t spent much time in her apartment since their thing ended, but it was nice to see him remember where she kept plates and utensils. She walked gingerly on stiff legs, the pins and needles slowly settling in, and took a seat at the counter as he pulled open containers and served them each a hearty share of chow mein.

 

“Yes, well, I figured the night called for it. Are you all right?”

 

Her gaze fell upon her food when he pushed it promptly in front of her and she shrugged. “Fine.”

 

He watched her curiously as they ate in comfortable silence for several minutes. He’d moved towards the fridge and pulled out a couple of beers. He found a bottle opener in a drawer and popped them open before handing one over.

 

Their eyes met as they drank, a long hearty gulp of light brew, and her eyes crinkled in a smirk when he offered her a wink.

 

“Ah, Jeremy.” She shook her head, picked at her food and popped a small piece of broccoli, lathered in soy sauce, into her mouth. “Once upon a time that wink would have made my panties drop like _that_.” She snapped her fingers for emphasis and they shared a laugh.

 

“Those were the days.” He teased, pulling another gulp of beer into his mouth. “So, can we talk about what we’re not talking about?”

 

Mindy sighed her reluctance and sat up straight in her stool, arching her neck and throwing her arms up in a long, luxurious stretch. Facing Jeremy, once more, she smiled softly at him and wondered how it was she decided to call her former—whatever that was--for comfort food and emotional support. “Can’t we just drink, flirt and forget all our troubles?”

 

“I would love to sit here and flirt, and drink with you, but we both know that’s not going to go anywhere. I’m afraid my charms no longer appeal to you, thanks to Danny.”

 

“Well, if you’re going to give up that easily.”

 

“Stop avoiding the subject. You called me here after all.”

 

“Yeah, so I’d have something pretty to look at while I drank my sorrows away.”

 

“Mindy…”

 

“Okay, fine, I’m having some—issues about me and Danny. I think it’s like cold feet or something, I just—I want to know that everything is going to work out, I want to know that we aren’t wasting our time, you know? I mean, Danny is no spring chicken, I can’t let him waste his best years with me only to end up an old, mad, forever single man, you know?”

 

“Are you doubting your relationship because of this huge fight you two had that you won’t tell me about?”

 

Her mind flashed back to the shouting that morning, the hushed sort of shouting in Danny’s office that was somehow all the more hurtful than actual shouting could ever be.

 

“It was a bad fight,” She said, her eyes glassy with emotion as she recalled and tried desperately to push away the hurtful words they hurled at one another that morning, finally having decided that they should take a breather and spend the night apart. It was something trivial, she wasn’t even sure exactly how they’d gotten to the shouting at each other part, but it somehow became a fight about their differences, their upbringing, religion and finally about raising the children they don’t have either Hindu or Catholic. Mindy was exhausted. “Sometimes, I feel like I am physically unable to shut up, Jeremy. Like, one day, Danny is just going to get tired of fighting with me and end the whole thing.”

 

“Mindy, come on, that’s ridiculous, Danny worships you.”

 

“Yeah, well, I’m gorgeous, why wouldn’t he? But I think I’m too much.”

 

“Have you seen the way he looks at you? I’d never seen Danny look at another woman the way he looks at you when you’re not yelling at each other. It’s sickening. Why are you so worried? It can’t be the fighting, that’s sort of your thing, isn’t it? You fight, you have sex, all is right with the world. I actually think Danny likes the sound of your voice when you’re angry, all shrill and high pitched, I am telling you, it’s disturbing.”

 

She laughed and waited as Jeremy pulled another two beers from the refrigerator. He leaned against the counter and appeared to be so comfortable. It was eerie, seeing him there again, for a moment; it was as if he never left. “I can’t believe I used to have sex with you on a regular basis.”

 

 “What does that mean, exactly?”

 

“Nothing, I just—I don’t know, I actually considered some sort of future with you. It was so stupid.”

 

“I don’t think it was stupid. You’re great. And Danny knows you’re great. He loves you. And if he’s a smarter man than I am, he is not about to let you go a second time, okay? He’s learned his lesson.”

 

She felt bashful all of a sudden. She smirked shyly at him and offered a quiet “Thanks”.

 

They talked a while longer, going through another four or five beers each, now comfortably seated on Mindy’s couch, the radio playing softly in the background, Mindy felt relaxed and some of the tension from her day had melted away.

 

“You two are doing it right, you know.” Jeremy said, tucking a strand of hair behind Mindy’s ear, and lingering longer than necessary before drawing his hand back, reminding himself that alcohol did not excuse touching. “You and Danny, you’re going to be fine. You’re going to have fifteen children and you’re going to fight and make up forever. And you’re going to be disgustingly happy, you have nothing to worry about.”

 

“Thanks, Jeremy.”

 

“My pleasure.”

 

She watched him as he stared ahead, sipping his beer leisurely; his five o’clock shadow a ridiculously attractive feature, his jawline perfectly set. Chewing on her bottom lip, Mindy felt a sudden sense of pride for having bagged a guy like Jeremy once upon a time. Talk about conquest.

 

“Hey,” Mindy said as she reached over to tap Jeremy’s shoulder, letting her hand stay there as she asked, “We had some pretty great sex, together didn’t we?”

 

His lips turned up into a devilish smirk and he nodded. “Yes. Yes, we did.”

 

“So why did we stop?” This was dangerous territory to go down while drunk, definitely dangerous after a fight with Danny, but Mindy’s fling with Jeremy was something she never really got closure from, and she was curious about some things still, it seemed. “ _When_ did we stop actually? I don’t remember the last time…”

 

“I do.”

 

“You do?”

 

“I remember exactly.”

 

 

 

 

_“Are you sure?”_

_“Yes.”_

_“But are you really sure?”_

_“Yes.”_

_“That’s too bad,” Mindy said, waited in silence for about thirty seconds or so. “You know why?”_

_“Why?” Jeremy asked, trying very hard to keep his hands to himself and finding it very difficult when Mindy whispered in his ear like that._

_“Because I got rid of my underwear just before I came here and it’s uh, kind of a shame, but, you know, no biggie.”_

_He caught her arm before she was out of his doorway and pulled her inside, the end of a girlish giggle dying against his mouth as his door slammed shut and he hoisted her up, her legs wrapping around his waist almost immediately._

_There was nothing gallantly or tender about the way he deposited her on his bed. She fell with a yelp and scoot up the bed as far as she could go before Jeremy grabbed her ankles, tossed both of her heels across the room, kicked off his own and, and roughly pulled his tie off._

_Something stopped him. It must have been a noise outside, or the flashing light of a passing fire truck—who knew? But there he was, staring at the woman he’d only meant to bed a few times until she decided he wasn’t worth the effort and they’d both come out unscathed._

_But the way she stared up at him, the way her eyes shone with an anticipation that was borderline exasperation, it disarmed him, made him feel—made him feel something he was not meant to be feeling._

_“What are you waiting for? You’re going to be late for your date.” She said in a husked whisper before reaching for the tail ends of his shirt to pull him over her._

 

 

“Yo.”

 

Jeremy broke out of his reverie at the sound of Mindy’s fingers snapping in his ear. When he turned her way, she was smiling a warm, slightly inebriated smile that made Jeremy’s stomach turn. _Something about muscle memory._

 

“You all right, buddy?” She teased as she pulled the beer bottle out of his hand. “I think you’ve had enough.”

 

His gaze skimmed her spine as she leaned over to place the nearly empty bottle on the coffee table and he released a low growl-like sigh before covering his eyes with his palm. He really was too drunk for this, too single, too needy.

 

“You pulled me out of a date.” He finally said, finding enough of a sobered tone deep inside his chest to fool himself into thinking that feeling wasn’t the reason it all stopped between them.

 

“What!” The mortification was so intense, so laced with seriousness that Jeremy couldn’t help but laugh.

 

“You did, indeed, pull me out of a date.”

 

She seemed nervous, and in turn, it made Jeremy nervous. They spoke over each other, each attempting to get the last word.

 

“I—made you _late_ for a date, I did not pull you from a date—“

 

“—you actually did _keep_ me from a date—“

 

“—well, if I recall correctly, no one was holding you against your will, you weren’t tied up or any—“

 

“—well—“

 

She chuckled anxiously and hid her face behind her hand, scrunching up her nose, unable to look Jeremy in the eye. “Oh, my god.”

 

“—technically, I was tied up…”

 

“OKAY. Okay, fine. I kept you from a date. Whatever. I didn’t hear any complaints _during_ , I guess is what I’m trying to get at.”

 

“I’d have been a fool to complain.”

 

“It was fun.”

 

“It was, it was a lot of fun.”

 

She turned to him, a silky wisp of hair falling swiftly over one eye once again.

 

“So, why did you end it? I mean, not to make you uncomfortable or anything, I’m not in love with you anymore, so you’re off the hook…”

 

His double take was almost embarrassing. If she had seen it. He’d teased her about being smitten with him, but he’d never heard her admit to it, even in jest. It made him feel a disgusting flutter in his chest. His mouth opened, he felt it bubble up within him the way it did when he was ridden with anxiety. He’d kill for an entire cheesecake.

 

“ _Blegh_ , whatever, don’t tell me. I’m just drunk and insecure. I think I’m PMS’ing. It’s okay, you know. I mean, it was fun, it was hot.” She waved her hand airily and pushed that stubborn hair back behind her ear.

 

Jeremy felt suddenly very stupid. What was he going to do? Confess his undying love for her? Chase her up the stairs at the Empire State Building? For what? For something he _thinks_ he felt once upon time? No, he would keep this to himself. Be gentleman as he promised himself he’d be from now on. “Yes.”

 

“But the rest of it—it wasn’t real.”

 

“Maybe not,” He said, cursing himself for the valiant—or cowardly—slip of the tongue that was to come. The way she looked at him then however, perplexed, scared that he would say something she did not want to hear, it made him hold it all back. “--but it could have been. It easily could have been.” _Most of it back_.

 

“We just didn’t meet at the right time.” She agreed.

 

“Maybe I was just an idiot.”

 

“Yeah, maybe.” She laughed him off, patting his cheek affectionately before she rose to her feet and began to clear the coffee table.

 

“No, Mindy,” He took hold of her wrist, holding his breath, waiting for her to strike his cheek and kick him out. But she smirked sweetly instead, making the confession something more innocent than Jeremy hoped it would turn out to be. Releasing her, he stood and joined her in clearing the table, making the following easier to discard with a shrug of his shoulders and a nonchalant finish,  “--it was ALMOST real. I want you to know that. You meant something to me, it was—it was as real as it could have been. Or—at least as real as I let it get before I, you know…”

 

“Man-whored out?” She finished for him and turned quickly towards the kitchen.

 

“Yes, that’s it.”

 

She rambled on an on about how silly she was being and how at least she and Danny had something to fight about. Jeremy nodded his agreement, made all the appropriate sounds that told her she he was listening, and then, when he had wiped her counter clean for her, he became what he’d aspired to become ever since he’d run away from Mindy all that time ago. “Call Danny.”

 

Jeremy Reed became a gentleman.


End file.
